\n\tThree years after a crippling strike by the writers and actors, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has already wrapped up deals with both unions, ahead of schedule and with no drama.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Monday, the studio alliance will try to make it 3-for-3 as it sits down with the Directors Guild of America, the one guild that didn\u2019t go on strike in 2023.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs with the Writers Guild of America talks, the primary focus will be on healthcare.<\/p>\n
\n\tDGA<\/a> members enjoy a gold-plated plan, with no individual premiums and $1,000 out-of-pocket maximums for in-network care. The WGA agreed<\/a> to a deal in April that significantly increases the cost writers pay for their coverage, including individual premiums for the first time, and the DGA will be under pressure to make similar concessions.<\/p>\n \n\tThe studios are expected to significantly increase their contribution rate as part of the deal, though the precise balance is still to be seen.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe employers are going to have to raise their contributions \u2014 that\u2019s just a fact of life,\u201d DGA President Christopher Nolan said in a roundtable interview in January, noting that the plan had already imposed some benefit modifications. \u201cWe\u2019ll do our part, but the employers are going to have to step up and do theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe DGA health plan is not doing as badly as the WGA plan was, but it\u2019s not in great shape either. Skyrocketing health costs caused the plan to lose $38.8 million in 2024, following a $4.6 million loss in 2023, according to the plan\u2019s most recent tax returns.<\/p>\n \n\tThe primary issue facing DGA members \u2014 and all film and TV workers \u2014 is the scarcity of jobs. The union is expected to offer some proposals to try to safeguard employment for its members, though the union\u2019s tools are somewhat limited in this area.<\/p>\n \n\tThe other major bargaining priority is artificial intelligence. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA have each sought to protect their members\u2019 creative work from being used to train AI models that can replace human workers, with only limited success. <\/p>\n \n\tFor now, the studios are not reaping a windfall by licensing copyrighted work to AI companies, and are instead having to spend money on lawyers to try to protect their work from being taken and repurposed for free. A deal between Disney and OpenAI to license characters for use on Sora fell apart when OpenAI discontinued the platform.<\/p>\n